Forex Critical – Key Trends Continuing for the Aussie, Loonie, and Yen

The latest CFTC data on the Commitments of Traders (CoT) showed some key trends continuing: new heights of bullishness on the Australian dollar (FXA) and the Canadian dollar (FXC), and on-going depths of bearishness for the Japanese yen (FXY). Speculators increased net longs on the Australian dollar for the 8th week in a row. Speculators … Read more

Above the 40 (March 24, 2017) – Small Caps Fight for the Bulls, Euro Presses Higher

AT40 = 37.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 57.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 13.0 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: bearish Commentary In my last “Above the 40“, I noted how the stock market took a pause in deference to the growing … Read more

Forex Critical: Pound Bears Hold Firm Ahead Of Brexit’s Article 50 Trigger

A week ago, the CFTC’s Commitments of Traders report revealed that speculators had ramped up net short contracts to highs unseen since at least 2008. These positions were accumulated ahead of announcements on monetary policy from the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve. Given the British pound soared through these events, I assumed … Read more

Forex Critical: Speculators Flip the Script on the Canadian Dollar

Just three weeks ago, speculators sent their bullishness on the Canadian dollar to a 4-year high. I followed along with the speculators and accumulated a short USD/CAD position. Two weeks passed before the payoff. It arrived in the form of an anti-dollar reaction to a rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Source: FreeStockCharts.com With … Read more

Silver Speculators Stand Firm Despite Poor Price Action

Last week I registered my surprise at silver speculators rushing to increase net long contracts to near multi-year highs. This move happened ahead of what was expected to be a parade of Fed-speak clearing the path for a March rate hike. The surge stood out even more given gold’s surge did not bring net long … Read more

The iShares Silver Trust Breaks Out On Maximum Bullishness

Last week’s report from the CFTC’s Commitments of Traders shows that speculators ramped up net longs on silver to levels unseen since at least 2008. I call this “maximum bullishness.” Source: Oanda’s CFTC’s Commitments of Traders Since June, 2014, the peaks in run-ups of net longs have generally trended higher and higher. Those buying sprees … Read more

Watch Out for the Nuances of the Japanese Yen’s Relationship to the S&P 500

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 11, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Japanese yen (FXY) rang in the new year with loud alarm bells. At the time, I wrote about the implications for the surge of strength in “The Japanese Yen Flashes … Read more

The Bank of England Confirms Its Preference for A Weak British Pound

The Bank of England (BoE) released its latest pronouncement on monetary policy on April 14, 2016. As has been the case for what feels like forever now, the BoE kept policy the same with Bank rate at 0.5%, and it maintained the stock of purchased assets at £375 billion. The BoE concluded that the outlook … Read more

Forex Critical: Key Changes in Positioning – Counter-Trend Edition

The following data cover the latest from the CFTC’s Commitment of Traders as reported by Oanda from the week of from Monday, February 8, 2016. From Oanada: “The Commitments of Traders (COT) is a report issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It aggregates the holdings of participants in the U.S. futures markets (primarily … Read more

The Canadian Dollar Pushes To Fresh Post-Crisis Low on Broadly Weak May GDP

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 3, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Lost during last Friday’s alarm over U.S. wage growth was the report on May GDP for Canada from Statistics Canada. Canada reported its fifth consecutive monthly decline all but guaranteeing the … Read more